Dear Fellow Railroad Enthusiast,

There's nothing quite like coming down to the engine house in the silence of the morning and gazing upon steam locomotive 93 as it sits there cold and quiet, knowing that a fire will change everything. Lighting off the coal in the firebox transforms this sleeping giant. Soon there is enough steam pressure to turn the blower on and to really start shoveling in the coal. As the steam pressure rises, the engine house crew starts oiling all around. Locomotive 93 is ready to move out of the engine house and head down the track. Sounds like a flashback to the 20s, 30s, 40s, or 50s? It isn't. What makes this scene truly remarkable is that it is taking place now.

You can be part of the scene. I invite you to be the engineer and experience what it is like to be in the cab of a working steam locomotive as it heads up the mainline. Especially in this year of our Centennial.

You can rent our steam locomotive and head up the hill to the copper mines just like the Nevada Northern has been doing for a century. Imagine how wonderful it will feel to be the engineer with your hand on the throttle.

There's another great feeling you'll get when you rent one of our locomotives; your money will help us bring one of locomotive 93's stable mates back into service. The museum is earmarking all locomotive rental money to bring locomotive 81 back into steam service.

You may have read in magazines like Classic Trains and Railfan and Railroad what a struggle it is to keep steam locomotives in operation. Complying with Federal Railroad Administration regulations and drastic hikes in liability insurance premiums has increased costs dramatically. Revenue at most railroad museums has been down because there have been fewer visitors (reduced air travel after 9/11 and higher gas prices now).

Higher costs and lower revenue mean restoration projects have to be scrapped. At the Nevada Northern Railway Museum, we reversed that trend by bringing another steam locomotive, No. 40, back to life in 2005. (Locomotive 40 was featured on the cover of Trains magazine in May 2005.) Now, we need your financial assistance to bring another locomotive back to life.

The museum is a national treasure. That's not just our opinion. William L. Withuhn, Curator, History of Technology & Transportation at the Smithsonian Institution, said:

"Among all railroad historic sites anywhere in North America, the Nevada Northern Railway complex at East Ely is—no question in my mind—the most complete, most authentic, and best cared-for, bar none. It's a living American treasure and a stand-out one."

The Museum's centerpiece is the East Ely Shops and Yards National Historic District. This fifty-six acre facility dating from 1906 has forty-nine structures and buildings of historic importance. There are only three similar surviving facilities left in the country, and we are the only intact, standard gauge facility remaining. The yard is complete with engine house, machine shop, coaling tower, water tank, depot, and assorted out buildings. Still posted throughout the facility are internal management memos, some dating from the 1920s.

Imagine seeing this collection, all in one place—

• Three steam locomotives including two 2-8-0s (No. 93, an Alco built in 1909 and No. 81, a Baldwin built in 1917) and a 4-6-0 (No. 40, a Baldwin built in 1910). It's No. 81 that we'll make operational . . . with your help. All of these locomotives were purchased brand new by the Nevada Northern Railway and spent their lives here.
• Nine historic diesel locomotives, including an operating Alco RS-2, RS-3, and an EMD SD-9.
  Two rare Baldwin diesel locomotives.
  
• A 25-ton GE switcher and two electric locomotives.
  
• Maintenance-of-way equipment includes a coal fired, steam wrecking crane back to operation in 2005, a standard gauge, coal fired rotary snowplow, and two Jordan spreaders. The Museum is also responsible for about thirty miles of track.
  

What makes the Nevada Northern Railway Museum truly exceptional is its context. We have the original locomotives being serviced in the original engine house using the original tools and techniques. They operate on the original right-of-way through one of the original tunnels. The Nevada Northern Railway transports you back in time to the golden age of steam railroading.

Locomotive 93 started life on the Nevada Northern fresh from the erecting shops of Alco in 1909 and is still in service today. We still use the original drawings from Alco to keep 93 steaming. Wooden boxcars from 1912 are still in the yard awaiting their next load. Inside you'll find the original chalk marks on the walls showing where freight for Cherry Creek was placed.

As you can imagine, maintaining a 100-year-old facility is expensive. If you rent one of the locomotives, this will raise funds to maintain our other locomotives. But I understand not everyone can afford to rent a locomotive. You can help is in other ways.

Become a member of the Nevada Northern Railway Museum. To help us meet those challenges, I invite you to participate in Steam and Cinders 2006, our fundraising program. The first step is to join the museum; please join at the highest level you can afford. Every level of membership receives our Ghost Tracks newsletter. This will keep you up to date on the activities of the museum.

Your membership is a concrete way of showing your support of this incredible national treasure. Secondly, I ask you to consider a cash donation over and above your membership. Running a century old complex is expensive. For every hour a steam locomotive is hot, we have two hours of maintenance. This really adds up during the summer when locomotive 40 is kept hot for a week. That's 336 hours of maintenance that is needed for just one week. There is a reason why steam locomotives were scrapped—they are expensive to operate.

In Faces of Railroading: Portraits of America's Greatest Industry it states, "Employing 5,000 people, the sprawling Cheyenne Shops were typical of the steam shops operated by major railroads. Roundhouse workers . . . were some of the most highly skilled craftsmen in America. They had to be—steam locomotives were high maintenance machines with few interchangeable parts."

People come to this remote corner of Nevada to see a steam locomotive in operation. And this is the conundrum: how do we keep an uneconomic piece of obsolete technology in operation? A steam locomotive is expensive to operate; it needs specialized tools and knowledge. It is obsolete technology. Yet, how can we understand the genius that created it if it doesn't operate?

Your rental or membership contribution will assist us in accomplishing our goal of keeping the steamers going, not only for today but also for future generations. To do this, we need to teach the next generation the skills required to keep the steamers hot. It is a challenge.. Yet if we don't do it, a piece of our history, a piece of America will fade away. We need your help to find and train the new faces of steam railroading.

Of course, you can treat yourself and help preserve the Nevada Northern Railway at the same time. The quintessential experience is being in the cab of the locomotive. It's better if the locomotive is moving. And of course, the ultimate experience is your hand on the throttle. Well, at the Nevada Northern Railway Museum you can operate either our steam locomotives or our diesel locomotives. And then it gets unbelievably better because you get to operate out on the mainline! Take locomotive 93 from East Ely to Keystone and back again.

Wonder why the Southern Pacific bought cab forward steam locomotives? Experience it first hand, as you take locomotive 93, our Alco 2-8-0, through a curved tunnel and the cab fills up with smoke. Think diesel locomotives don't smoke? Find out first hand why Alco diesel locomotives are considered honorary steam locomotives. Take locomotive 109, our Alco RS-3, upgrade to Adverse and return. For a very special treat, rent them both and compare steam versus diesel. Rental dates are limited and are available on a first come, first served basis. Rentals may be split between two individuals.

Please help us continue to preserve the spirit and legacy of this sole survivor of a grand era in railroading by renting a locomotive or joining the Nevada Northern Railway Museum today! Your membership at any level—or donation to the Steam & Cinders 2006 Fund—supports this truly unique museum for future generations. The museum is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation. Your donation may be tax deductible.

Sincerely,

Mark Bassett
Executive Director

P.S. What would be a greater holiday, birthday, or special gift than being at the throttle of one of our engines?

P.P.S. Capture the golden age of railroading yourself at our annual photo shoots in February. Details here.